News Flash

A Durham man was arrested Saturday night and charged with robbing a Boost Mobile store at 2230 North Roxboro Street earlier in the evening. The man – Willie Lee Collins, 34, of Durham – was arrested after a brief chase by Durham police officers. 

Officers responded to a robbery call at the business shortly before 6 p.m. on Saturday. The victims told officers that a man armed with a rifle robbed the business of cash and a customer of his wallet. The man was seen leaving the scene in a gray Nissan Rogue and officers were given a description of the vehicle. 

A short time later, an officer attempted to stop a vehicle matching the description near the intersection of Westgate Drive and Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard, but the driver sped away as the officer approached the vehicle. The officer lost sight of the vehicle on Durham-Chapel Hill Boulevard.

A few minutes later, another officer spotted the same vehicle on N.C. 147 and attempted to stop it. The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Collins, crashed into a guard rail as he was attempting to take the off ramp onto U.S. 15-501. 

Officers arrested Collins and charged him with two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, felony fleeing to elude arrest in a motor vehicle, larceny of a motor vehicle, misdemeanor child abuse and a parole violation. He was placed in Durham County Jail without bond. Officers recovered a large amount of cash from the vehicle. 

 A female and young child inside the vehicle were treated at the scene for minor injuries.